This document describes the policies that have been put in place by NITDA to ensure that Nigeria stays competitive and fulfills local demand in the ICT Sector.

1. The purpose of this summary is to make it easier for professionals within the ICT sector to
understand the Local Content guidelines put forward by NITDA which came into effect on
December 3, 2013 by highlighting key details of the guidelines and how they affect each type of
company operating within the sector. The Local Guidelines were created in collaboration with a
wide range of stakeholders (include the stakeholders), taking into account best practices as well
as realities on ground within the IT Sector in Nigeria, and aimed at creating success for all
parties within the Nigerian IT sector.
Nigeria has seen a lot of growth in the use and adoption of digital technology for communication
and computing. In the 10 years between 2001 and 2011, teledensity increased from 0.73% to
70%. There was also growth in the number of homes with computers and internet access as the
number of PCs shipped into the country quadrupled. Even with all of this growth, there is still a
deficit in economic value generated locally because of the non-existence of technology exports
and very low level patronage of locally produced ICT products including hardware and software.
There has been growth within the industry, with increasing participation of local companies in
services such as OEM Manufacturing, backhaul network provision, submarine and terrestrial
cabling etc. These efforts are believed not to be enough, which has led to attempts to improve
the ability of local companies to innovate and participate in the industry more effectively. These
attempts include provision of venture capital, establishment of business incubators &
scholarships for students in ICT related fields.
For these reasons, NITDA created these policy guidelines for the sector and are empowered to
enforce them in both the public (Federal, State and Local Bodies in charge of ICT Procurement,
Regulation and Development) and private (by partnering with the relevant authorities) sectors
under a unified framework developed by NITDA.
Focus Areas
There are three core focus areas of the guidelines: Indigenous innovation, Development of the
Local ICT Industry, and establishment of IP Regulation and Protection within the industry. These
areas have a set strategic goals which have performance measures to measure the
achievement of the goals. These are outlined below as follows:

2. Area Strategic Goal Performance Measures
Indigenous innovation Achieve a thriving ICT
industry capable of
contributing to national
development goals
● Real economic value
contributed by the industry
to the Nation’s GDP
● Number and quality of jobs
created within the industry
● Innovation & Inventiveness
of Nigerians and Nigerian
companies measured by
the creation of startups,
patents and Intellectual
property.
Development of the Local ICT
Industry
Lay the foundations for
thriving ICT industry that
can compete globally
● Quality standards among
local ICT companies
● Self-sufficiency in the value
chains of Indigenous
companies in terms of
indigenous value creation.
● Capacity Building efforts in
the industry
IP Regulation and Protection Support technology
transfer, indigenous
participation and the
survival of local players
in the sector
● Amount of funding/support
available for Indigenous
Companies
● Amount of Foreign Direct
Investment in the industry
● Number of Innovation
Centers / Centers of
Excellence

3. Purpose
The Local Content guidelines were designed to
● Enable the local ICT companies to contribute towards national development targets.
● Enable indigineous companies to create and sell high quality IT products and services
which will be consumed by the local and global market.
● Build and Equip Nigerians with the capacity to participate actively in the Local ICT
Industry
● Provide opportunities to indigineous companies that will improve their ability to provide
relevant products and services to the Nigerian market
● Provide a framework to regulate and legislate the on the creation, use and distribution of
Information Technology in Nigeria
● Promote the export of indigenously made ICT goods and services, as well as create an
enabling environment for FDI into the ICT Industry.
Enforcement & Review
These guidelines will be applied to all MDAs (Federal, State and Local Council), Private sector
institutions, business enterprises and individuals. And they will be included as part of existing or
future requirements for accreditation and license renewal of ICT Companies including OEMs,
ODMs, Telcos, ISPs, MNCs, VAS Providers etc, as well as grant of approval for establishment of
device manufacturing plants
There will be guideline review activities to access its responsiveness to emerging trends in the
global ICT Industry, responsiveness to changes within the Local ICT industry and also to review
the perfomance of the guidelines.
If the guidelines are breached, NITDA is authorized by the National Information Technology
Development Act of 2007 to take action (in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 6 of
the Act).
Definition of Terms
● Computer​includes information technology systems, whether networked or not
● MDAs mean all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government at all three tiers,
Federal, State and Local, as well as in all three branches, Executive, Legislative, and
Judiciary.

4. ● The Agency​means NITDA or the National Information Technology Development Agency
● IT means Information Technology, and is used interchangeably with, ICT - Information
and Communications Technology which is a combination of 5 equipment and services
that enables remote gathering, processing, storage, conveyance and delivery of various
forms of information
● A Nigerian company is a firm formed and registered in Nigeria under the Companies
and Allied Matters Act 1990 with not less than 51% equity shares owned by Nigerians and
which has a domain name on the .ng domain.
● A Multinational company (MNC) is a firm that is registered in more than one country or
that has operations in more than one country.
● Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a firm that makes functional computer
devices from component parts bought from other organizations.
● ccTLD means the country code Top Level Domain which is usually denoted by two
letters.
● Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) is a firm that produces hardware, which other
companies sell under their own brands.
● Hardware computer companies are firms who assemble, maintain and repair
computers and peripheral components.
● Technology Platform companies are firms that enable software developers to develop
software applications for the platform by using well defined sets of standards. These
include operating systems, Runtime libraries, databases and cloud-based platforms.
● Independent Software Vendor (ISV) is any individual or firm that makes and sells
software products that run on one or more computer hardware or operating system
platforms.
● Software Development Firm (SDF) is a firm that consists of at least five active
developers with competencies across popular technologies and platforms - developing,
testing and managing software solutions.
● Internet service provider (ISP) is a firm that offers users access to the Internet and
related services.
● A Systems integrator (SI) is an individual or business that builds computing systems for
clients by combining hardware and software products from multiple vendors.
● A professional service firm (PSF) is any firm with high knowledge intensity and a
professionalized workforce providing IT consulting or system integration services.

5. ● Back end / Back office: is the systems that process data, applications or workflow
points that do not have direct contact with customers or users.
● Basic raw materials include intermediate products which have undergone the first stage
of refinement from their naturally occurring state e.g. silicon ingots
● A Call Center includes an office in an organization or outsourced to third parties where
customers service representatives answer subscriber calls for order processing, billing
enquiries, fault reporting and general inquiries
● A Completely Knocked Down (CKD) assembly plant is involved in the reassembly of
foreign made ICT products that have been imported in the form of basic component
parts, with virtually no value added except for labour involved in fitting the parts together
and testing
● Firmware is a software that is already transformed into hardware such that it cannot be
modified and performs only predetermined functions of a repetitive nature
● Local manufacturing is the ability to design and fabricate a product that meets a
specified performance requirement through the use of at least 50% local content by
value.
● Manufacturing is the production of simple products or goods that meet specified
performance criteria in commercial quantities through the chemical and mechanical
transformation of basic or intermediate raw materials
● Middleware is software that allows several other software systems to work together
easily.
● Malware is software that is intended to disrupt, damage or cause other software to
malfunction or gain an unauthorized access into third party information.
● Nigerian content or local content is the equivalent of local value added to the
development, design, fabrication and assembling of ICT products in Nigeria measured in
monetary terms as a proportion of production cost or the proportion of indigenous
manpower involved in the various stages associated with the provision of an ICT service
in Nigeria
● Teledensity is the number of citizens out of every hundred or percentage of citizens that
have personal telephone lines or numbers
● Telco means Telecommunications company – a company that provides
telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications

6. ● Value Added Service is additional or enhanced service that increases the value of an
existing product or an offered service.
● SIM​is Subscriber Identification Module
Summary of the Guidelines
Summarized below are the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT
1. Guidelines for ICT Hardware
2. Guidelines for Indigenous Software Development
3. Guidelines for ICT Service Provisioning
4. Guidelines for Network & Internet Services
5. Guidelines for Data and Information Management
6. Guidelines for Human Capacity Development in ICT
Guidelines for ICT Hardware
● OEMs are required to fulfil the following obligations in order to maintain active certification
with NITDA (renewable every 4 years); local capacity for production of devices with
multiple form factors either directly or through a local ODM, assemble all hardware within
Nigeria at fully staffed facilities, hold ISO 14001 & ISO 9001 certification, maintain a
minumum ​market capitalization of 2 Billion Naira​, maintain platform certifications
such as Windows Hardware Certification or Android CTS / CDD Certication.
Asides these obligations, they are to maintain R&D Departments within Nigeria, setup
service centers, develop products that support that support Nigerian languages, make
their premises available for inspection and maintain at 50% local content in every
segment of the product value chain (within 3 years). To help support their efforts, they will
have a 5-year duty waiver on computer components required for integration into
assembled devices.
● ODMs are required to fulfil the same obligations as OEMs in order to maintain active
certification with NITDA with some differences; assembly and installation of minimum of
1 million devices per annum, ​minimum market capitalization of 5 Billion Naira​, proof
of partnership with a certified OEM. They will also have a 5-year duty waiver on computer
components required for integration into assembled devices.

7. ● MNCs are required to provide a local development plan for the creation of jobs,
recruitment of local engineering talent, human capital developmet and value creation for
the local ecosystem.
● MDAs are to purchase all Hardware products locally only from NITDA approved OEMs
(ensuring that these products support Nigerian Languages and the Naira sign), give a
preference to companies with existing support facilities, and consider all IT projects as
turnkey deployments (by including the cost of support and maintenance in the BOQ, and
ensuring that vendors demonstrate appropriate systems integration capability)
● NITDA will promote and publish technical standards to serve as a guide to local OEMs,
facilitate assisted puchase programs to create product demand and promote the
technology adoption in education , organise regional Information Technology tradeshows
with neighbouring countries, discuss value creation initiatives with industry groups, and
ensure that all participants in the industry benefit from investment incentives.
Guidelines for Indigenous Software Development
● ISVs are required to register register company profiles detailing their products,
capabilities, and structure on the NITDA Portal to ensure that the agency is aware of
available resources (This service will be free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy). Also
required is the ability to provide “support, continued development and maintenance” of
any software built, sold or deployed. They will hold and retain exclusive rights over their
copyrighted work, and have access to seed capital & incubation programs.
● SDFs are required to fulfil the same obligations as ISVs with the addition of maintenance
of standard certifications (ISO 9001, CMM) in order to qualify for large scale software
development bids, and development of products that support Nigerian Languages and
Local use cases. They will also hold and retain exclusive rights over their copyrighted
work, and have access to seed capital & incubation programs.
● MNCs are required to provide verified information and signed affidavits regarding the full
security, inner workings, origin and sources of software being sold within Nigeria. This
directive is designed to protect National Security. Also, Local Content Development plans
will form part of requirements for registration within Nigeria and pre-qualification for

8. projects carried out with any MDAs. This applies to new and existing MNCs within
Nigeria.
● MDAs will obtain evidence of the full security of all software being used, carry out
risk-based due dilligence on software purchases, source and procure software from only
local companies (except if capacity for developing such software doesn’t exist), and only
source software for which there is local capacity (Design, Development, Testing,
Troubleshooting, Maintenance and Improvement). Also MDAs will ensure that all software
solutions are considered as turnkey deployments (with vendors demonstrating systems
integration capability)
● NITDA will partner with financial institutions, VC firms and Angel Investors to create a
vibrant Venture Capital ecosystem and encourage the set-up of Business Incubators.
Also NITDA will enforce the provisions in the National IT polciy as well as promote the
local development of software solutions in critical sectors such as helath, security and
education.
Guidelines for ICT Service Provisioning
● ICT Companies are required to register Nigerian Entities with predominant Nigerian
representation, provide a local content development plan that caters for the creation of
jobs and human capital development, use only locally manufactured SIM cards for
provision of Data and Telephony Services. They are also required to host subscriber data
locally, host their websites on the .ng ccTLD, and migrate their internet peering
infrastructure to local alternatives.
In terms of infrastructure, they are required to use local companies to build out physical
infrastructure (cell towers, base stations) ensuring that 50% of the value of this is locally
sourced, as well as use Nigerian companies to provision at least 80% of their Value
Added Services with those companies creating at least 50% of the value of services
provided locally.
● NITDA will facilitate discussions on the setup of indigenous ICT services providers
spanning the entire value chain, foster growth by encouraging innovation in areas raging
from mobile messaging to convergence management, ensure compliance with Nigerian

9. Content Development guidelines, and provide motivation for ICT Service providers to
develop unique local content offerings.
Guidelines for Network & Internet Services
● ISPs ​are required to register register company profiles detailing their products,
capabilities, and structure on the NITDA Portal to ensure that the agency is aware of
available resources (This service will be free of charge and devoid of bureaucracy). They
are also required to provide details (source, origin, inner workings ) of Internet tools being
used by the government, providing access to these tools and services in order for the
government to ascertain security of communications.
Other requirements include supporting rights of authors by taking down materials that
infringe intellectual property rights, holding and maintaining ​ISO/IEC 27001:2005
certification, and providing rights to consumers to delete all personal information &
records belonging to them on any service.
● MDAs will be required to host their websites on the .gov.ng domain, source Internet
Services from local companies, monitor network traffic, and have access to details of the
security and audit protocols put in place by the service provider.
● NITDA will develop guidelines and incentives to encourage adoption of the .ng ccTLD by
public and private institutions as well as individuals.
Guidelines for Data and Information Management
● Data and Information Management Firms in Nigeria are required to register company
profiles detailing their products, capabilities, and structure on the NITDA Portal to ensure
that the agency is aware of available resources. (This service will be free of charge and
devoid of bureaucracy). They will not be allowed to host government data outside Nigeria
(except with the approval of NITDA and the SGF), and must hold and maintain ​ISO/IEC
27001:2005​certification.
● Government MDAs will promote system wide logging to aid in forensic investigations &
ttroubleshooting problems in government systems. Also they will required to ensure that
all government data and information is hosted locally and adequately secured.

10. ● NITDA will promote local data hosting firms and set appropriate service level
requirements for service provisioning from these firms. Also NITDA will work with
copyright organizations to achieve harmonization of intellectual property rights within the
ICT Sector
Guidelines for Human Capital Development in ICT
● MNCs are required to carry out value adding activities within Nigeria to create jobs and
empower Nigerians. As an incentive for creating technology in-country, they will be
eligible for tax relief of up to 120% on general R&D (Research and Development)
expenses and up to 140% on R&D focused on the use of local raw materials
● NITDA as the regulator will in turn promote specialized ICT courses and
commercialization of research activities in higher institutions, partner with industry
associations and certification bodies to rank ICT programs, establish incubation
programs,, create a journal of ICT in Africa, setup training and skill acquisition programs,
fund the creation of software development firms which will participate in the high end
software market etc.